Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-06-17
ans. ENGLAND.

some highly Historical Reflections
Relative 60 tho Dame Across the Sea
"A Yankton High Sch0oi Girl's
Essay.
The following essay, read by Miss
Matte McVay, Of the graduating claes
OF 1877, at the Yankton high school COM
mencement Tuesday evening, is unique,
original, ingenious and excellently put
together. As q departure from the
st%ereotyped school girl composition it
stands out in bold and attractive relief:
There was en- old woman who lived in a shoe.
Ehe had 30 many children sbe didn't know
what TO do;
To some she she gave br roth and to some she
gave bread,
ana ~ Uhba aa.S them al S0ahaiS ana sent them
In accordance with the usual custom
of biographers we will state in reference
to the parentage of Mrs. England that
her father was q Saxon and her mother
a Norman. In her character traces of
both are apparent. From her father
she has inherited her almost uncontroll-
sble Desire to WELD the club, her stead
Hfastness and stnrdiness OF purpose to
carry ont her plans,and her general truth
fulness and uprIghtness of character.
From her mother she has inherited all
the finer qualities in her nature, the
great delicacy with which she can settle
q dispute, seeming to please every one
but really pleasing no one but
herself, her tact in making every one do
Just about as she directs; also her love
OF all that Is grand or beautiful in music,
literature and art.
Mrs. England was born sometime in
the eighth century and as she may be
even yet q little sensitive about her age
l will not give the exact date. Although
so old she is still very well and as things
Look now will probably live for some time
to come. She has o large, robust,
motherly looking figure, with q face as
full, round and ruddy as o moon, from
much drinking Of beer and ale.
She has had and is now having a great
deal OF trouble in governing her child
rem. As fast as she gets one under her
control another will rebel. She must
weareR very stern co~untenauce always or
they would completely overpower her,
for they are very qaick to take advan.
tage OF their mother, as children gener-
ally are who are watched ss closely as
she watches hers. But cross and watch
full az sha is even now she has had to
give up some of them and let them look
out for themselves, which they we're
glad enough to do. She has always had
10 very quarrelsome disposition and
spends much of her time in TALKING over
the back fence or gossiping among
The nelghbors TO see if she can make q
disturbance among them. She gener-
ally succeeds in this and has them all
quarrellng among themselves or with
her. She is not even satisfied with the
quarrels she makes herself, but if she
hears of Q little wranglipg going on in
the most distant part of the neighbor-
hood she ,mmed lately ienves all her
domestic duties and rushes into the
fight with great eise5, rs. Then when il
10 over she comes ...a !, g large share of
the spolls. Her vslt POSSESSIONS will
illustrate her success in this line. She
has made SO many enemies in this way
that she is getting very careful how she
treats her neighbors, for should she have
a quarrel now her neighbors; would prob.
ably ell take sides against her and she
would have a hard time of it indeed
Already she has had dlsagreementE and
| sven quarrels with Mrs. France, Mrs.
Spain and Mrs. Holland. Indeed il
would be hard to mention q neIghboi
who ia capable of fighting witt. whom
she has not quafreied. In most cases
she hos had success.
Mrs. England ia q strict church goel
and believes there is no church quite
like that of her own choice, ssthe church
OF England, = as she calls it, and she has
no sort OF patience with any one who
thinks differently. She, OF course, wants
all her children to 60 to church with hel
and many of them have worried her con
tinually because OF their refusal to dc
so. !
So you see she has her troubles like
the rest of mortals. Not being Satisfied
I with the trouble her own children have
! given her she adopted a child, India
She took India into the shoe-not foi
any love that she had for her, bu!
simply for the riches which she had in
abundance. At present India lives
| very quietly down at the toe of the shoe
and is seldom heard from. Sometimes
she gets hungry (for, on account Of
drought and other causes, she is not
always 30 rich in provisions as in gold
and silyer) but her mother cruelty neg
lents her, forgetting the large income
she receives from India every year. She
! refuses to send her anything to eat, ever
though she may be starving. Tn fact
poor, neglected. downtrodden India has
been pretty thoroughly whipped and
put to bed. She made Q great struggle
once to get free from her would be
mother, bat it was in vain. It did not
take Mrs England long to subdus and
make her perfectly helpless.
Mrs. England's younger brother, MIR,
Scotland, has grown up to be. q good,
sensible, strong old man. Although in
her girlhood she had o great many
quarrels with him and often tried to sub.
due him Gas older sisters are aometimea
apt TO do) she always had to give it up
and now they are the best of friends,
Every Sunday morning he walks regu.
iarly to the Presbyterian church with
his psalmbook under his arm and al.
though quite an old man he can stand
up and sing. with as straight o bhS!S as
any 81 them. w
Her oldest son is John Bull, and wail
I named too, for he is q bull in size, tenn
| per, character and manner. TO him Mrs
England has promised all her posses.
sions when she dies. In fact he has had
general charge OF her nffairs for
several years past and we hear
much less OF Mrs. England
now than formally. Little johnnie
has always been his mothers pet and big
John always will be his mothers pet.
He has inherited most Of her traits OF
character and being trained to arms
from his boyhood up he does truly
relish d fight. AS his mother LET'S him
do pretty much 81 he pleases he hunts
continually, keeps q whole colony of dogs
and horses and uses them to such good